Capitals Insider: April 18, 2010 - April 24, 2010

Just finished my story for tomorrow's Post and wanted to give a few updates before I leave KCI for the day. First off, practice today was very optional. Seven players -- Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich, Mike Green, Tom Poti and Brendan Morrison -- did not skate....

With about 7 minutes 30 seconds remaining in the first period of Friday night's 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals forward Eric Belanger approached Canadiens defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron near center ice. Bergeron passed the puck away, and his stick came up and smacked Belanger in the face, causing...

It had been a while since Bruce Boudreau ripped his players in a postgame press conference. But the coach couldn't help himself after watching tonight's wretched 2-1 loss on home ice to the Habs, who staved off elimination and forced the series back to Montreal for a Game 6 on...

Post reporter Gene Wang is online now to chat about the Caps' 2-1 loss to the Habs at Verizon Center, which sends the first-round series back to Montreal on Monday for a Game 6. Join the conversation here....

After a delay to start the second period because of a goal camera in need of repair, the Capitals cut the deficit to 2-1 on Alex Ovechkin's strike less than four minutes in. The puck had come free in front of the crease, and Mike Knuble was trying to push...

The Capitals fell behind quickly when Mike Cammalleri beat goalie Semyon Varlamov 1 minute 30 seconds into the opening period, deflating the packed house at Verizon Center hoping to see the home team score quickly as it tried to end the series in Game 5. It got worse for the...

Semyon Varlamov will start in goal tonight and will oppose Jaroslav Halak, who returns to the Habs' net after backing up Carey Price on Wednesday. Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn will be sidelined for a second straight game with an undisclosed injury. The team has not commented on his injury, but he...

Tonight at Verizon Center the Caps can accomplish something they haven't managed to do in 12 years: Win a playoff series in five games. The last time they did it was against the Senators in the spring of 1998 - the same year the Caps made the franchise's only Stanley...

Today Alex Ovechkin responded to the latest controversy in a relatively tame Caps-Habs series, explaining that when he sprayed ice onto a young Montreal flagbearer before Game 4, he didn't mean anything by it. "I just do it all the time," Ovechkin said with a grin. "The kid was on...

(Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Mike Green was named a Norris Trophy candidate for the second straight year this afternoon. The other two nominees are Los Angeles' Drew Doughty and Chicago's Duncan Keith. Green, the leading scorer among defensemen with a career-best 76 points and plus 39 in 75...

(Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Bruce Boudreau has made the most of the Capitals' depth, turning to players such as Boyd Gordon, above left, to help put Washington within one win of the second round. "Over the course of a series," Boudreau said, "we can always have guys that...

Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau was about the most committal he's been recently in revealing today that Semyon Varlamov will be the starting goalie for Game 5 Friday night at Verizon Center, where the team has a chance to end its first-round series against Montreal. Varlamov has been brilliant at...

If you think you had a long night watching the Capitals beat Montreal, consider what the team endured on its trip back to the D.C. area in the hours following its 6-3 victory in Game 4. The ordeal began as the charter flight was approaching Dulles airport, where the Capitals...

The Washington Capitals cancelled their practice that originally was scheduled to begin at noon today, but Coach Bruce Boudreau and players will be available to the media at that time. Check back later this afternoon for video of Boudreau's news conference, plus reaction from Game 4 and a look ahead...

*Capitals 6, Canadiens 3: Boyd Gordon has a hand in another shorty, this one by Mike Knuble, and Alex Ovechkin scores twice as the Caps head back to Washington with a 3-1 series lead. | Game story » *Tracee Hamilton: Pair of Russians top an arena full of Habs....

The Caps have not only taken a 3-1 series lead against Montreal. Apparently, they've also gotten to Carey Price, who came unraveled in the third period. After Jason Chimera scored to make it 4-2, Price flipped a puck toward the Caps' celebration in the corner, hitting Jeff Schultz. Then, after...

Post reporter Gene Wang is chatting live now about the Caps' 6-3 victory over Montreal, which gives them a three-games-to-one lead as the series shifts back to Verizon Center. Join the discussion here....

The second period was generally uneventful until late, when the Canadiens had consecutive power plays. During Montreal's first extra-man advantage, Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov was on his game, stopping mulitple bids from close range. But on the ensuing power play, Montreal broke through when Brian Gionta poked in a loose...

The Capitals ended their futility on the power play in this series when Alex Ovechkin collected a pass from Nicklas Backstrom and beat Carey Price at 11 minutes 50 seconds of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Mike Green also had an assist on Ovechkin's third goal of the...

Semyon Varlamov will start in goal tonight and oppose Carey Price in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarters. The Caps will not have defenseman Shaone Morrisonn, who left Game 3 with an injury and did not take the warmup. The Habs, meantime, won't have defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, who is...

Goalie coach Arturs Irbe instructs Semyon Varlamov during Tuesday's practice at Bell Centre. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Yesterday I caught up with goalie coach Arturs Irbe and talked to him for a few minutes about Semyon Varlamov, the Caps' Game 4 starter tonight. Irbe, who knows a thing...

Another day in Montreal, another controversy. Actually, make that two. Many of questions from the huge media contingent covering this series today were about some eyebrow-raising comments Mike Green made earlier this week regarding the Habs and an upcoming story in Sports Illustrated about the steroids story that's hung over...

You know it's the playoffs when the coach says one thing and his players say something else regarding a suspected injury. Anyway, that's what's going on with Shaone Morrisonn. The defenseman did not practice yesterday, and although he returned for this morning's pre-game skate, it's unclear whether he'll suit up...

(Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Some quick morning links to start the day: *The Capitals' off-day practice is heavily attended as they attempt to fix a power play that has failed a season-worst 21 consecutive times. *Tracee Hamilton: With John Carlson, catch a rising star. *Sports Waves: Joe Beninati...

(Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Today's practice was all about the struggling power play, but it looks like the Caps managed to have some fun, too. Check out some photos from The Post's Toni Sandys right here. Also, here's Tarik's story on the power play and the uninvited Canadiens...

Capitals defenseman John Carlson takes a shot during Tuesday's practice at Bell Centre. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) In her latest column from Montreal, Tracee Hamilton writes about 20-year-old defenseman John Carlson, who has impressed nearly everyone in his first NHL playoffs: It's good to be John Carlson. Monday...

A quick update before I start writing my story for the paper: *Coach Bruce Boudreau sounded hopeful that both Shaone Morrisonn and Joe Corvo will be able to suit up tomorrow after skipping practice today with undisclosed ailments. *Boudreau also spent the majority of practice working on the power play,...

The Caps are on the ice here at Centre Bell, but defensemen Shaone Morrisonn and Joe Corvo are missing. Morrisonn left Monday's game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. No word yet on Corvo. I'll have another update in a bit....

(Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Game 3: Washington 5, Montreal 1 The Capitals score four goals in the second period and dominate the faceoff circle en route to a blowout of the Canadiens. | Story » *Tracee Hamilton: Ahh, the silence of Habs fans. (Tracee is chatting live from...

I'm at the end of a day that began at 3 a.m., so I'm going to be brief tonight. My game story's here and covers quite a bit of tonight's momentum stealing 5-1 romp in Montreal that put the Caps up 2-1 in the series, and here's Tracee Hamilton's...

(Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post) Post reporter Gene Wang is online now to discuss the Caps' 5-1 Game 3 victory over the Habs in Montreal. Click here to join the conversation. And go here to check out some photos from Bell Centre....

The Capitals broke open the game in the second period with four goals, chasing Montreal starting goalie Jaroslav Halak after the first three. The flurry began with a short-handed goal from center Boyd Gordon, who was re-inserted into the lineup for Game 3 in place of David Steckel, roughly a...

Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau went with Semyon Varlamov in goal tonight for Game 3, and the decision paid off in the first period. Varlamov stopped 10 shots, including several close-in chances, and Washington was able to withstand a spirited start by Montreal at Bell Centre. The Capitals had a quality...

Semyon Varlamov will indeed get his first start of the playoffs tonight at Centre Bell and will oppose Jaroslav Halak in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarters. (Just in case you're wondering why Coach Bruce Boudreau turned to Varlamov instead of going back to Jose Theodore, you should have...

Without specifying which goaltender he plans to start tonight at Centre Bell tonight, Coach Bruce Boudreau did answer a few questions about the thinking that went into the decision. "We talked about it as a coaching staff and with [Artus Irbe's] input, the coaches' input [George McPhee's] input, we sat...

In addition to switching goalies, Coach Bruce Boudreau also appears set to make some changes to his forward lines in an attempt to get Alexander Semin's line going. Here's what the combos could look like tonight: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble (Don't see this changing) Fleischmann-Belanger-Semin (Belanger has been a beast on faceoffs, winning...

Coach Bruce Boudreau wouldn't say which goaltender will get the nod in Game 3 tonight at Bell Centre, but Semyon Varlamov exited the ice before Jose Theodore at the morning skate. The first goaltender off the ice is almost always that night's starter. Meantime, Theodore, who yielded goals on the...

(John McDonnell/The Washington Post) You're Coach Bruce Boudreau. Who do you start in goal for Game 3 at Bell Centre? The choices: Jose Theodore: Named "the guy" before the start of the playoffs because he went 20-0-3 with a 2.58 goals against average and .922 save percentage since Jan....

Goaltending isn't Coach Bruce Boudreau's only worry as the series heads to Montreal for Game 3 knotted at one game apiece. He's also got to figure out how to spark the dormant second line and a struggling power play. In Games 1 and 2, Boudreau has tried Tomas Fleischmann and...

One day after pulling Jose Theodore in the first period, Coach Bruce Boudreau wouldn't commit to going back to the veteran for Game 3 in Montreal on Monday. Boudreau, however, also wouldn't commit to rookie Semyon Varlamov, saying the decision had not yet been made. "I don't know," he said....

Rookie defenseman John Carlson became an unlikely hero on Saturday night when he tied the game at 5 with 1 minute 21 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime in a 6-5 victory that evened the series at one game apiece. Coach Bruce Boudreau was asked if Carlson has...

It's already after 1 a.m., so let's get right to it. Check out my final edition gamer here, Gene Wang's notebook on John Carlson here, Tracee Hamilton's column on Alex Ovechkin here, then come on back for the question that's going to consume Coach Bruce Boudreau and the Caps for...